Gearing.



PATENTED MAR. 7, 1905.

C. & J. DIBTZ.

GEARING.

APPLIOATIOR FILED JAN. 2, 1904.

6 w W a u x Quinn-Joe) j abliomw J UNITED STATES Fatented March 7, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

CONRAD DIETZ AND JOHN DIETZ, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO; SAID JOHN DIETZ ASSIGNOR TO SAID CONRAD DIETZ.

GEARING- SPECIFICATIONforming'part of Letters Patent N 0. 784,309, dated March '7, 1905.

Application filed January 2, 1904. Serial No. 187,449.

To all w/Lmn it may concern:

Be it known that we, CONRAD DIETZ and JOHN DIETZ, citizens of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gearings, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in gearings especially adapted for use in washing-machines for producing reversible longitudinal and rotary movements of the agitator.

The object of our invention is to provide an efiicient device of the character herein set forth whereby reversible longitudinal and rotary movement is imparted from a shaft which is continuously rotated in one direction, or in the reverse direction, and whereby the device is greatly simplified, cheapened, and otherwise rendered more desirable for use.

Our invention consists in the details of construction and in the parts and combination and arrangement of the parts, as herein set forth and as more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings which serve to illustrate our invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of our invention as applied to a washing-machine, a part thereof being broken away to show the interior. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the segmental gear. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cam adapted to be coupled to said segmental gear, as shown in Fig. 4:, which is an enlarged detail vertical section.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the shaft upon which the segmental gear is mounted. Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the same. Fig. 7 is a side elevation showing a modified construction of our device.

In the construction of our device, which we have especially adapted for use in washingmachines, 1 represents the clothesreceptacle, and 2 the housing mounted thereon. housing is formed with a suitable base-plate a, provided with the ordinary means of fastening it to the top or cover of the machine, and is also provided with a bearing 6 to receive the agitator-shaft. Mounted upon the base is a frame or arch 0, having a vertical bearing (Z 1n its central top part to receive and Said hold the upper end of the agitator-shaft 19. Also mounted upon the base is an extension 0 to form a bearing f to receive and hold the outer end of the crank-shaft 3, the inner end being mounted in bearing g in the arch c. Hand-power may be applied by use of the crank-wheel 4 and handle 5, and any other propelling power may be used, as desired. The crank-shaft may be rotated in either direction, and the reversal of movement will take place without reversing the direction of movement of the crank-shaft. This reversal of movement is obtained by means of the rollerbearing 6 on the end of the crank-shaft 3 engaging the rim 7 of the segmental gear 8 and the cam 9 as the'pinion 1O meshes with and moves the segmental gear 8. The roller-bearing 6 serves to give the segmental gear a uniform rotary movement when the pinion is beneath the segmental gear and prevents the pins or bearing-lugs of the segment from dropping into the bottom of the spaces between the cogs of the pinion, thus preventing an irregular or upand-down movement and unnecessary friction and loss of motion, as clearly shown by Fig. 4. The roller-bearing 6 also serves to produce the reverse movement by contact with the cams, which cause the pinion to travel up over the pins or lugs of the segmental gear and also beneath the same again, as the case may be.

The cam 9 is formed with vertically-disposed curved walls upon its opposite sides and so arranged with relation to the segmental gear as to form a path or way within which the roller-bearing travels around the segmental gear between the same and the cam. The cam 9 is coupled to the segmental gear 8 upon the shaft 19 by lug 16 of the cam fitting into recess 17 of the segmental gear, thus securely locking these two parts together.

WVhen it is desired that the agitator-shaft shall not have a longitudinal movement, we construct the same with longitudinal grooves 11, in which lugs 12 of the segmental gear fit to give rotary movement to the agitator-shaft and permit the segmental gear to freely oscillate vertically at the same time. The agitator-frame 13 is also mounted on the shaft in like manner,so that it will freely play up and down to suit the quantity of clothing in the tub and at the same time produce positive rotary movement.

Our invention is capable of considerable modification without material departure from thescope and spirit thereofas, for instance, instead of constructing the device as shown in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, we may construct it as shown in Fig. 7, wherein the segmental gear is rigidly secured to the shaft 19 by a pin 14 and the shaft moves up and down and also rotates in unison with the segmental gear and cam. When so constructed, we preferably secure the agitator-frame, as shown at the lower end of Fig. 7, wherein it is permitted to play up and down upon the shaft a limited distance to accommodate itself to various depths ,of clothing beneath it. The agitator-frame as constructed in Fig. 7 is mounted upon a vertically-grooved sleeve and is caused to rotate therewith by lugs fitting into said grooves and is adapted to move vertically a limited distance between the pin and end of the grooved sleeve 18 on the shaft 19. By this construction when the receptacle contains clothing the agitator is permitted to move upwardly by being carried with the shaft in its upward movement and also by being forced upwardly on the shaft by the clothing, or either.

Vhen we construct the device as shown in Fig. 1, the agitator-shaft is held from endwise movement by the spring-cotter 20 at the top and the ribs 21 on the lower part of the shaft 19.

If desired, the lower rim of the segment 8 may be cut away suificiently to prevent its contact with the roller-bearing 6, in which case the pins of the segment will be carried by the pinion.

The operation of coupling the segmental gear and cam is as follows: Allow the vertical agitator-shaft to project a short distance above the cover of the machine, then insert the lug 16 of the cam into the recess 17 of the segmental gear, which will bring the parts together in the manner shown in Fig. 4, and

asasos then place the parts thus united over the shaft 19, as shown in said Fig. 4.

An important advantage of our construction is to detachably interlock the segmental gear and cam upon the shaft without the use of separate means and to obtain the desired reversal of movement by means of the segmental gear and cam being mounted together upon the shaft.

We claim 1. In mechanism of the character described, a segmental gear provided with a central opening and having a recess in one side of said gear, a cam having a lug adapted to fit into said recess, and having bearings provided with openings adapted to register with the central opening of the segmental gear, a shaft adapted to engage and interlock said segmental gear and cam, means for imparting rotary movement from said shaft to said gear and cam, and means for mounting and operating said mechanism.

2. In mechanism of the character described, a housing, a shaft mounted vertically therein, a segmental gear and cam mounted upon said shaft, a crank-shaft journaled horizontally in fixed bearings, a pinion on said crank-shaft adapted to mesh with said segmental gear and a bearing also upon said crank-shaft adapted to alternately engage the rim of said segmental gear and the walls of said cam, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In mechanism of the character described, a cam having bearings,a segmental gear adapted to take between'and engage said bearings, means for preventing rotary movement of said segmental gear and cam with relation to each other, a vertical shaft adapted to take through said segmental gear and the bearings of said cam whereby said gear and cam are detachably locked together, and means for operating the segmental gear and cam.

CONRAD DIETZ. JOHN DIETZ. INitnesses:

JAMES N. RAMSEY, EDWARD L. ENNEKING. 

